Guilty in fatal ’08 hit and run
Driver who hit pedestrian described as biggest liar to come before judge
He’s a good boy. ANA PRECUP, mother of Vlad-Nicolae Precup
Vlad Precup not only knew he had struck a pedestrian at the intersection of Rideau Street and Colonel By Drive in a deadly 2008 hit-andrun, but he got rid of his sports car days later, then lied to police about it all, a judge ruled Monday.
In delivering his verdict of guilty, Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Lalonde said Precup’s testimony at trial was devoid of credibility in the face of more than a dozen other witnesses.
Precup, a diagnosed schizophrenic, changed his story several times, and gave a new, wildly unbelievable account on the stand, saying it was the driver behind him who hit Mitchell Anderson, 38.
The problem with that version is that the second driver never sped off from the scene like Precup, staying at the intersection and going to aid Anderson, who had been thrown four metres through the air before his head hit the sidewalk, fracturing his skull.
The trial also heard that Precup, 38 — only after finally admitting that he was in involved in the hitand-run — said he feared the pedestrian, who was drunk when he kissed his own hand and touched the hood of Precup’s Mazda RX8 as he waited for the green light on the night of July 13, 2008. The court heard that Anderson had made no threats.
The judge noted that Precup didn’t lock his doors or roll up the window in fear but instead floored the gas pedal. The rear-wheel-drive Mazda fishtailed through the intersection and continued “street-racing” through the By Ward Market, one of the capital’s “densest and busiest neighbourhoods.”
Several witnesses — including a pedestrian who backed away for fear of the “out-of-control” car — testified that the engine revved and the tires screeched as it sped north on Sussex, then swerved right onto George Street and disappeared from his view.
The judge also noted a telling conversation between Precup and his passenger girlfriend shortly after the deadly hit and run.
“We didn’t hit him, right?” his girlfriend Christy Lu asked. “I don’t think so,” Precup replied. Before the judge revoked Precup’s bail and sent him to jail to await sentencing, he told court on Monday that after reviewing the police interviews, he’d never seen so much “lying in their faces” in his 15 years on the bench.
The lead detective, Acting Sgt. Brian Dodds, and lead prosecutor John Ramsey didn’t comment on the successful prosecution in the high-profile case that had most of Ottawa looking for a red Mazda RX8.
It took police months before they figured out Precup’s car was involved in the collision. It would be 150 days before Precup admitted he was the driver, but he insisted it wasn’t his fault. Precup said he didn’t own up to it because he feared his parents’ reaction and felt that police would blame him for something he didn’t do. He went on to say police make mistakes.
Precup, a former truck driver, wiped his eyes as the judge de- clared him guilty. Mitchell Anderson’s family and friends hugged and smiled.
Precup, in the 11th hour on the stand, said Anderson was pounding on the hood in a threatening manner, but had made no mention of this years earlier when questioned specifically about it by Dodds.
It’s the second time Precup has been found guilty in the case.
He was convicted of dangerous driving and failing to remain at the scene of the collision in May 2011, but the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial after determining that bad character evidence about his “hair trigger” temper shouldn’t have been put to the jury.
The court heard that Precup had previously waved a knife at a shop keeper, burned his girlfriend with cigarettes, and elbowed passengers on OC Transpo.
Though Precup has a mental illness, he was found fit to stand trial twice.
Outside court on Monday, Ana Precup told the Citizen that her son is not the “monster” of the headlines. “He’s a good boy,” his mother said.
Precup’s defence lawyer, noting some of his client’s testimony, said there’s something wrong with him and asked for an updated pre-sentence report. The court will convene in January to set a sentencing date.